Alex Tagliani will replace injured driver Dario Franchitti for the Izod IndyCar series season finale.

Target Chip Ganassi Racing announced Wednesday afternoon that Tagliani, a 14-year veteran, would fill in the No. 10 on Oct. 19 in Fontana, Calif.

He has 200 career starts with one win and seven pole positions. He drove 13 races this season for Bryan Herta Autosport's Barracuda Racing team. He'll drive Franchitti's Ganassi Dallara/Honda for the MAVTV 500 at the 2-mile Auto Club Speedway oval.

Franchitti suffered two broken vertebrae, a broken right ankle and a concussion in the Sunday crash in Houston that sent his car airborne and into a catchfence. He remains hospitalized in Houston at Memorial-Hermann Texas Medical Center after an initial surgery Sunday to help stabilize his ankle.

Fourteen people -- 13 fans and an IndyCar official -- also were hurt.

Tagliani will team with Scott Dixon, who's leading the IndyCar championship standings, and Charlie Kimball.

"As a driver you never want an opportunity like this to come under these circumstances, but I'm up for the challenge and looking forward to working with my friend Scott and the whole Target team," Tagliani said in a statement released by the team.

Tagliani's hiring came shortly after rival Team Penske announced that it would add A.J. Allmendinger in a third car at Fontana. The two teams are battling for the drivers' championship, with Penske's Helio Castroneves 25 points behind Dixon heading into the race, and the manufacturers' championship between Chevrolet and Honda.

"Obviously the situation is not ideal with Dario being unable to compete in Fontana," team owner Chip Ganassi said. "As we look to the season finale we needed a driver with experience and the ability to step in and get the job done in the No. 10 car, and Alex was a logical choice for us."

Tagliani has won a pole and has a career-best finish of third in four starts at Auto Club Speedway.

Earlier Wednesday, Mike Hull, the team's general manager, said there was a feeling within the team that the No. 10 needs to be on the grid.

"It's the right thing to do," Hull said. "We represent IndyCar racing, Target and the team itself. We're a team of people."

Hull also said before the announcement the driver selection of the No. 10 car was complicated by the fact ACS, like Texas Motor Speedway, requires more from a driver than the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway. At the California and Texas tracks, more in-cockpit adjustments are required in long fuel runs.

At Indy, it's the final five or six laps that driver experience comes to the fore. At the other big ovals, it's more than half of the fuel run, Hull said.

"Sixty percent of the time the driver is changing line and trying to figure out how not to slide the car around, how to get forward bite (out of the tires)," Hull said. "That's the hard part in deciding who to use."

Race officials and safety workers tended to Franchitti until an ambulance arrived. Team owner Chip Ganassi said when he asked Franchitti how he was before he was put in an ambulance, the driver replied: 'I don't know.'
Juan DeLeon AP